The 4 Health Trends That Stuck

There is a plethora of info out there on the do’s & don’ts to be healthy, to become the best athlete, to lose weight, to rock your day, etc. Honestly, whenever health comes up in a conversation, it is so common to hear people say “Yea…but it is just SO overwhelming!”

I don’t blame them. In university I took nutrition courses, I worked as a health consultant in a natural health food store, I constantly read research papers on optimizing human health, multiple emails pumped to my inbox a day from health sites, supplement companies, research institutes…and I still don’t know everything about the current health trends and frankly, I never will…. no one will.

Jon and I lead a life that demands a lot from our bodies, and in doing so we need to be switched on health wise. We frequently get asked via email or at seminars about our daily routine to stay “up & running”. So here is a look at “practices” we incorporate into our lives. Although they aren’t all always done daily, we try to keep as consistent as possible. Out of the abundant and ever-changing health tips and recommendations out there, a few have stuck with us because for us personally, they work…

1) Netti Pot:

Always an awkward one to explain at the dinner table. In short, it’s a mini teapot that you mix a saline/salt solution in with warm water and then pop it up one nostril. Tilt your head to one side then you’ve got a whole nasal cleaning system going on. It looks awkward, feels weird when you’re doing it, but man does it feel good after! One of our yoga teacher once said to us “If you do so much work to keep your teeth clean (brushing & flossing), don’t you think we should also regularly clean out our nasal passage which we also use daily?”Tip: After you go through it, blow your nose one nostril at a time, not both or that could send water right back up.

2) Oil Pulling:

Whiten your teeth, disinfect your mouth, get rid of bad breath…. all naturally with no alchohol, dyes, bleach, etc. Alright, how to do it? Simple, plunk a spoonful of coconut oil in your mouth and let it sit in there for 20 minutes, doing the occasional mouth swish here and there. It is shocking to see the chance in colour when you spit the coconut oil back out, but don’t be alarmed, it means that it worked!Tip: When spitting it out, don’t do so down a drain with warm running water. The oil can solidify as it cools and therefore cause pipe clogging.

3) Warm lemon water in the morning:

Again, an easy one with big pay off. Wake up, chop a lemon in half, squeeze in a glass, pour some warm water in it, and down the hatch it goes. Lemons are a powerfood when it comes to alkalizing your body; which we can all use these days with the amount of acidic foods out there. Your body operates better at a more basic pH and this is one way to help get it there and stay there.Tip: I like to put only a little bit of water into the cup with the juice. Because the lemon is actually acidic until it hits your stomach where it has alkalizing effects, it can damage the enamel of your teeth. So by only having a bit of liquid that I need to drink, I can do it in almost “shots” so as little of it touches me teeth as possible. After, rinse your mouth by drinking some more water.

4) Meditate:

The health benefits of this one goes on-and-on-and-on. I have never come across an article saying “Meditation is Bad For You” or anything of the sorts. Stress release, increased focus, higher productivity…..You just can’t argue against it. There are tons of different styles but I stick to a metta one usually or imagery. This has played a huge part in ultra-marathon racing too. Learning to control your mind and its thoughts is a handy tool when you’re out on a trail for +12 hours straight.